LOGISTICS CLUSTERS AND THEIR POTENTIAL FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

Supply chain resilience in the face of shocks has arisen as a policy issue due to the multilateral trading system lowering trade barriers. Innovations in transportation technology created intelligent transport systems and production fragmentation of global supply chains. However, climate shocks and the COVID-19 pandemic restructured supplies in the global markets. At the same time, geopolitical conflict and tensions emerged with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, increased China’s military activity, introduced additional tension, and created difficulties for the supply chains. On the other hand, the current industrial policy, aiming at national economic growth, is motivated by objectives different from increasing company-level productivity or spillovers between sectors. The concern primarily revolves around supply chain resilience, the fear of weaponizing exports, supporting technological advancement, and the need for policymakers to introduce greater control over economic activity in anticipation of potential shocks. In cross-border supply chains, some governments seek to coordinate their industrial policies with the most significant partners without implementing measures at the national level (Bown, 2023). Overlaying other considerations is the existential threat of climate change, a significant driver behind many modern industrial policy initiatives. That is leading to the rebirth of the idea of logistic clusters uniting different partners in size with foreign trade-oriented activities, aiming at efficiency as well as resiliency of the logistics chains. Based mainly on deep secondary research, this paper addresses the rebirth of cluster ideas in international transport and logistic activities.